Insights, Marketing
founder of Rocket SaaS
If you’re running a B2B SaaS in a highly niche industry and struggling with inbound leads, you’re not alone. Many niche SaaS businesses rely on outbound sales, tapping into founder networks and referrals to drive early growth. But at some point, outbound hits a ceiling.
That’s where inbound comes in. Done right, it creates a scalable, repeatable system for attracting and converting high-quality leads.
If I had to design a scalable inbound strategy for a niche B2B SaaS business in this position, here’s what I’d prioritise.
Here’s the scenario I’m dealing with:
This isn’t a business with obvious demand waiting to be captured. It needs a structured approach to creating demand while also making outbound more efficient. Here’s how I’d go about it.
Before spending a penny, the first priority is understanding whether people are actively searching for this solution. If they are, the strategy should lean towards capturing that demand. If they aren’t, the focus should shift to creating demand through education and targeted outreach.
The first step would be running keyword research using Google Keyword Planner. If there’s decent search volume for problem-aware terms—things like “[solution] for [industry]” or “[pain point] software”—Google Ads would become a core part of the strategy. If search volume is low, spending money on Google Ads would be a waste, and social media and outbound would be my priority. The latter is typically the case with niche solutions.
I’d analyse the company’s existing customers. Who are the best ones? Which industries, job titles, and company sizes convert best and stay the longest? Patterns here would help shape targeting for both inbound and outbound efforts.
Speaking directly to at least five happy customers would be a must. Data shows who buys, but conversations reveal why they buy. Understanding what made them choose this solution over competitors or doing the job in-house would inform messaging, content, and sales enablement.
If, after the initial research, I was still unsure who the primary ICP was, I’d allocate £1,000 as a test budget to experiment with two or three different industry funnels. Each funnel would be tailored to a specific audience, with messaging and positioning adjusted accordingly.
For each industry, I’d create a targeted landing page and run ads to test engagement and early conversion signals. The goal wouldn’t be to drive immediate revenue but to gather data on which audience shows the strongest signs of interest, measured through CTRs, time on page, and demo requests.
This would allow me to validate which industry is the best fit before committing the full budget to a single direction.
To scale outbound alongside inbound, I’d build a targeted list using Apollo.io and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. The aim wouldn’t be just mass outreach; it would be finding the right people and warming them up with strategic ads before direct engagement.
One of the biggest reasons niche SaaS companies struggle with inbound is unclear positioning. If prospects don’t immediately understand what the product does, why it matters, and why it’s different, they won’t engage.
I’d apply April Dunford’s “Obviously Awesome” framework to clarify the positioning. That means defining the market category, understanding competitive alternatives, and articulating why this solution is the best choice for the niche.
With a clear positioning statement in place, I’d overhaul the website messaging. The homepage and key landing pages should speak directly to the pain points and priorities of the ideal customer. Instead of focusing on features, the emphasis should be on outcomes and competitive differentiation.
Beyond that, I’d create content that answers common buyer objections before they even reach the sales team. A series of “Why Us vs. Competitor” and “Why Not Do This In-House?” pages would give prospects the clarity they need to move forward.
Many SaaS companies produce content for the sake of content. They blog about generic topics that never drive leads. That’s a waste of time.
I’d start with a monthly thought leadership interview, either with the founder, a product leader, or a happy customer. Using the support of notetakers and AI, that one interview would then be repurposed into multiple content assets: a long-form blog post, short video snippets for LinkedIn, text-based social posts, and, if a particular topic gains traction, a webinar.
This approach ensures that every piece of content is rooted in real expertise, not generic SEO fluff.
One of the toughest challenges for niche SaaS companies is that their product is difficult to explain in broad terms. It’s much easier to market when it’s tied to a specific use case.
For every existing customer, I’d create a dedicated use case asset that breaks down exactly how they use the product, what problem it solved, and the tangible results. This wouldn’t just be a case study; it would be a full suite of assets designed to drive awareness and conversions.
Each use case would include:
These assets would then be used in highly targeted ABM campaigns to get in front of the right accounts. Instead of trying to market broadly, I’d focus on marketing precisely.
With a £5,000 budget, every pound needs to work hard. The ad strategy would focus on LinkedIn for awareness and demand generation, Google (if search volume exists) for intent capture, and Meta for retargeting.
I’d allocate:
Even with a strong inbound strategy, conversions will suffer if sales and marketing aren’t aligned.
To fix this, I’d:
By executing this plan, here’s what I’d expect:
This isn’t about throwing money at ads and hoping for the best. It’s about building a structured, data-driven marketing engine that delivers consistent, high-quality leads.
If your niche SaaS business is struggling with inbound, this is how I’d fix it.
If this resonates with your business and challenges, and you are in need of marketing support to make this happen, this is exactly what me and my agency, Rocket SaaS, do for our clients. We create a strategy (like the above), then put the team in place to execute, working in alignment with your in-house resources.
If you’d like to discuss working together, let’s start with a free, no-obligation SaaS marketing strategy call.
By Ryan James
Founder @ Rocket SaaS
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